Information processing system, information processing apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus by which image data can be downloaded simply. A video camera  11  receives thumbnail images corresponding to one or more images included in an album from a video camera image station  41  and displays the thumbnail images on an LCD unit. If one or more images to be downloaded are selected, then the video camera  11  acquires image information of the selected image or images from a video camera image station  41 , analyzes the image information and discriminates it one by one image whether or not the selected image data are downloadable. Every time one image is discriminated to be downloadable, the video camera  11  accesses a corresponding URL designated for each image, downloads the image from the URL and records the image onto a recording medium. The video camera  11  successively downloads the selected images in this manner.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an information processing system, aninformation processing apparatus and method, and more particularly to aninformation processing system, an information processing apparatus andmethod by which image data stored in a database can be downloadedefficiently.

BACKGROUND ART

An undertaker (hereinafter referred to as album service providingundertaker) is available which provides a service for providing an albumon a network, that is, a service of storing image data of stillpictures, moving pictures and so forth picked up by a user using animage pickup apparatus into a database through a network to the user. Anoutline of the service is described with reference to FIG. 1.

A personal computer 1 for use by a user is connected to a server 2 of analbum service providing undertaker through the Internet 3.

Image data picked up by the user using an image pickup apparatus (notshown) are recorded onto a recording medium. The personal computer 1fetches the image data from, for example, the recording medium. Further,the personal computer 1 establishes a connection to the Internet 3 andfetches image data from an information providing server not shown or thelike.

The personal computer 1 can access the server 2 of the album serviceproviding undertaker through the Internet 3 and store the image datafetched by such a method as described above into a database of theserver 2. Further, the personal computer 1 can read or erase the imagedata stored in the database of the server 2 or transmit them as annexeddata to an electric mail to another user. Further, the user candownload, when necessary, desired image data from the database of theserver 2 to the personal computer 1.

However, there is a subject that, when image data picked up by an imagepickup apparatus are uploaded to the server 2 and when image data storedin the database are downloaded, the user is obliged to designate objectimages one by one to upload or download them one by one, and as aresult, much time is required.

Further, there is another subject that, since operation of a personalcomputer is complicated, a user unfamiliar to a method of use of apersonal computer cannot easily enjoy provision of the service.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances asdescribed above and makes it possible to download image data simplyusing an image pickup apparatus.

An information processing system of the present invention ischaracterized in that a first information processing apparatus includesfirst requesting means for issuing a request for transmission of indicesto images managed by second information processing apparatus to thesecond information processing apparatus through a network, acceptancemeans for displaying the indices to the images transmitted from thesecond information processing apparatus and accepting selection of oneor more of the images desired to be downloaded by a user, secondrequesting means for issuing a request for transmission ofdiscrimination information of the image data corresponding to the imageor images whose selection has been accepted by the acceptance means tothe second information processing apparatus, discrimination means fordiscriminating whether or not the image data are downloadable based onthe discrimination information transmitted from the second informationprocessing apparatus, third requesting means for issuing a request fortransmission of the image data to the second information processingapparatus if it is discriminated by the discrimination means that theimage data are downloadable, and recording means for recording the imagedata transmitted from the second information processing apparatus onto arecording medium, and the second information processing apparatusincludes storage means for storing the image data transmitted from thefirst information processing apparatus for each user, specificationmeans for accepting an access from the first information processingapparatus to specify the user of the first information processingapparatus, first transmission means for transmitting, in response to thetransmission request for indices to the images from the firstinformation processing apparatus, indices to the images to the firstinformation processing apparatus, second transmission means fortransmitting the discrimination information to the first informationprocessing apparatus in response to the transmission request fordiscrimination information from the first information processingapparatus, and third transmission means for transmitting the image datato the first information processing apparatus in response to thetransmission request for the image data from the first informationprocessing apparatus.

The indices to the images may include thumbnail images of the images.

The discrimination information may include information regarding a filesize of the image data and a type of a format of the image data as wellas a URL corresponding to the image data.

The third requesting means may access, when to issue a request fortransmission of the image data, the URL included in the discriminationinformation and issues a request for transmission of the image data.

A first information processing apparatus of the present invention ischaracterized in that it includes first requesting means for issuing arequest for transmission of indices to images managed by a differentinformation processing apparatus to the different information processingapparatus through a network, first acceptance means for displaying theindices to the images transmitted from the different informationprocessing apparatus and accepting selection of one or more of theimages desired to be downloaded by a user, second requesting means forissuing a request for transmission of discrimination information of theimage data corresponding to the image or images whose selection has beenaccepted by the first acceptance means to the different informationprocessing means, discrimination means for discriminating whether or notthe image data are downloadable based on the discrimination informationtransmitted from the different information processing apparatus, thirdrequesting means for issuing a request for transmission of the imagedata to the different information processing apparatus if it isdiscriminated by the discrimination means that the image data aredownloadable, and recording means for recording the image datatransmitted from the different information processing apparatus onto arecording medium.

The indices to the images may include thumbnail images of the images.

The discrimination information may include information regarding a filesize of the image data and a type of a format of the image data as wellas a URL corresponding to the image data.

The discrimination means may compare the file size of the image datawith a free storage capacity of the recording medium to discriminatewhether or not the image data are downloadable.

The discrimination means may discriminate whether or not the image dataare downloadable based on the information regarding the type of theformat of the image data.

The third requesting means may access, when to issue a request fortransmission of the image data, the URL included in the discriminationinformation and issues a request for transmission of the image data.

The discrimination means may select the image data one by one from amongthe image data corresponding to the one or more images accepted by thefirst acceptance means and discriminate whether or not the selectedimage data are downloadable, and the third requesting means may issue arequest for transmission of the one image data every time it isdiscriminated by the discrimination means that one of the image data isdownloadable.

The information processing apparatus may further include image pickupmeans for picking up an image of an image pickup object.

The network may be the Internet.

The information processing apparatus may further include fourthrequesting means for issuing a request for transmission of a list ofgroups to the different information processing apparatus, and secondacceptance means for displaying the list of the groups transmitted fromthe different information processing apparatus and accepting selectionfrom among the groups, and the first requesting means may issue arequest for indices to the image data classified in the group acceptedby the second acceptance means.

A first information processing method of the present invention ischaracterized in that it includes a first requesting step of issuing arequest for transmission of indices to images managed by a differentinformation processing apparatus to the different information processingapparatus through a network, an acceptance step of displaying theindices to the images transmitted from the different informationprocessing apparatus and accepting selection of one or more of theimages desired to be downloaded by a user, a second requesting step ofissuing a request for transmission of discrimination information of theimage data corresponding to the image or images whose selection has beenaccepted by the process at the acceptance step to the differentinformation processing means, a discrimination step of discriminatingwhether or not the image data are downloadable based on thediscrimination information transmitted from the different informationprocessing apparatus, a third requesting step of issuing a request fortransmission of the image data to the different information processingapparatus if it is discriminated by the process at the discriminationstep that the image data are downloadable, and a recording step ofrecording the image data transmitted from the different informationprocessing apparatus onto a recording medium.

A first recording medium of the present invention is characterized inthat a program includes a first requesting step of issuing a request fortransmission of indices to images managed by a different informationprocessing apparatus to the different information processing apparatusthrough a network, an acceptance step of displaying the indices to theimages transmitted from the different information processing apparatusand accepting selection of one or more of the images desired to bedownloaded by a user, a second requesting step of issuing a request fortransmission of discrimination information of the image datacorresponding to the image or images whose selection has been acceptedby the process at the acceptance step to the different informationprocessing means, a discrimination step of discriminating whether or notthe image data are downloadable based on the discrimination informationtransmitted from the different information processing apparatus, a thirdrequesting step of issuing a request for transmission of the image datato the different information processing apparatus if it is discriminatedby the process at the discrimination step that the image data aredownloadable, and a recording step of recording the image datatransmitted from the different information processing apparatus onto arecording medium.

A first program of the present invention causes a computer to execute afirst requesting step of issuing a request for transmission of indicesto images managed by a different information processing apparatus to thedifferent information processing apparatus through a network, anacceptance step of displaying the indices to the images transmitted fromthe different information processing apparatus and accepting selectionof one or more of the images desired to be downloaded by a user, asecond requesting step of issuing a request for transmission ofdiscrimination information of the image data corresponding to the imageor images whose selection has been accepted by the process at theacceptance step to the different information processing means, adiscrimination step of discriminating whether or not the image data aredownloadable based on the discrimination information transmitted fromthe different information processing apparatus, a third requesting stepof issuing a request for transmission of the image data to the differentinformation processing apparatus if it is discriminated by the processat the discrimination step that the image data are downloadable, and arecording step of recording the image data transmitted from thedifferent information processing apparatus onto a recording medium.

A second information processing apparatus of the present invention ischaracterized in that it includes storage means for storing image datatransmitted thereto from a different information processing apparatusfor each user, specification means for accepting an access from thedifferent information processing apparatus to specify the user of thedifferent information processing apparatus, first transmission means fortransmitting, in response to a transmission request for indices to theimages from the different information processing apparatus, indices tothe images to the different information processing apparatus, secondtransmission means for transmitting discrimination information to thedifferent information processing apparatus in response to a transmissionrequest for discrimination information from the different informationprocessing apparatus, and third transmission means for transmittingpredetermined image data from within the image data stored in thestorage means to the different information processing apparatus inresponse to a transmission request for the image data from the differentinformation processing apparatus.

The storage means may store a plurality of the image data in aclassified state in a plurality of groups, and the informationprocessing apparatus may further include fourth transmission means fortransmitting a list of the groups to the different informationprocessing apparatus based on a transmission request for the list of thegroups from the different information processing apparatus.

A second information processing method of the present invention ischaracterized in that it includes a storage step of storing image datatransmitted thereto from a different information processing apparatusfor each user, a specification step of accepting an access from thedifferent information processing apparatus to specify the user of thedifferent information processing apparatus, a first transmission step oftransmitting, in response to a transmission request for indices to theimages from the different information processing apparatus, indices tothe images to the different information processing apparatus, a secondtransmission step of transmitting discrimination information to thedifferent information processing apparatus in response to a transmissionrequest for discrimination information from the different informationprocessing apparatus, and a third transmission step of transmittingpredetermined image data from within the image data stored by theprocess of the storage step to the different information processingapparatus in response to a transmission request for the image data fromthe different information processing apparatus.

A second recording medium of the present invention is characterized inthat a program includes a storage step of storing image data transmittedthereto from a different information processing apparatus for each user,a specification step of accepting an access from the differentinformation processing apparatus to specify the user of the differentinformation processing apparatus, a first transmission step oftransmitting, in response to a transmission request for indices to theimages from the different information processing apparatus, indices tothe images to the different information processing apparatus, a secondtransmission step of transmitting discrimination information to thedifferent information processing apparatus in response to a transmissionrequest for discrimination information from the different informationprocessing apparatus, and a third transmission step of transmittingpredetermined image data from within the image data stored by theprocess of the storage step to the different information processingapparatus in response to a transmission request for the image data fromthe different information processing apparatus.

A second program of the present invention causes a computer to execute astorage step of storing image data transmitted thereto from a differentinformation processing apparatus for each user, a specification step ofaccepting an access from the different information processing apparatusto specify the user of the different information processing apparatus, afirst transmission step of transmitting, in response to a transmissionrequest for indices to the images from the different informationprocessing apparatus, indices to the images to the different informationprocessing apparatus, a second transmission step of transmittingdiscrimination information to the different information processingapparatus in response to a transmission request for discriminationinformation from the different information processing apparatus, and athird transmission step of transmitting predetermined image data fromwithin the image data stored by the process of the storage step to thedifferent information processing apparatus in response to a transmissionrequest for the image data from the different information processingapparatus.

In the information processing system of the present invention, the firstinformation processing apparatus issues a request for transmission ofindices to images managed by the second information processing apparatusto the second information processing apparatus through the network,displays the indices to the images transmitted from the secondinformation processing apparatus and accepts selection of one or more ofthe images desired to be downloaded by a user. Further, the firstinformation processing apparatus issues a request for transmission ofdiscrimination information of the image data corresponding to the imageor images whose selection has been accepted to the second informationprocessing apparatus, discriminates whether or not the image data aredownloadable based on the discrimination information transmitted fromthe second information processing apparatus, issues a request fortransmission of the image data to the second information processingapparatus if it is discriminated that the image data are downloadable,and records the image data transmitted from the second informationprocessing apparatus onto a recording medium. The second informationprocessing apparatus stores the image data transmitted from the firstinformation processing apparatus for each user, accepts an access fromthe first information processing apparatus, specifies the user of thefirst information processing apparatus, transmits, in response to thetransmission request for indices to the images from the firstinformation processing apparatus, indices to the images to the firstinformation processing apparatus, transmits the discriminationinformation to the first information processing apparatus in response tothe transmission request for discrimination information from the firstinformation processing apparatus, and transmits the image data to thefirst information processing apparatus in response to the transmissionrequest for the image data from the first information processingapparatus.

In the first information processing apparatus and method, recordingmedium and program of the present invention, a request for transmissionof indices to images managed by a different information processingapparatus is issued to the different information processing apparatusthrough the network, and the indices to the images transmitted from thedifferent information processing apparatus are displayed and selectionof one or more of the images desired to be downloaded by a user isaccepted. Further, a request for transmission of discriminationinformation of the image data corresponding to the image or images whoseselection has been accepted by the first acceptance means is issued tothe different information processing means, and it is discriminatedbased on the discrimination information transmitted from the differentinformation processing apparatus whether or not the image data aredownloadable. Then, a request for transmission of the image data to thedifferent information processing apparatus is issued if it isdiscriminated that the image data are downloadable, and the image datatransmitted from the different information processing apparatus arerecorded onto a recording medium.

In the second information processing apparatus and method, recordingmedium and program of the present invention, image data transmittedthereto from a different information processing apparatus are stored foreach user, and an access from the different information processingapparatus is accepted and the user of the different informationprocessing apparatus is specified. Then, in response to a transmissionrequest for indices to the images from the different informationprocessing apparatus, indices to the images are transmitted to thedifferent information processing apparatus, and then discriminationinformation is transmitted to the different information processingapparatus in response to a transmission request for discriminationinformation from the different information processing apparatus. Then,predetermined image data from within the image data stored in thestorage means are transmitted to the different information processingapparatus in response to a transmission request for the image data fromthe different information processing apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view showing a configuration of a conventional serviceproviding system;

FIG. 2 is a view showing a configuration of a service providing systemto which the present invention is applied;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video camera ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a customerregistration web server of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image stationfor a video camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a customer databaseof FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a customer registration process inthe service providing system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a digital image customerregistration process of the video camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating a digital image customerregistration process of a network system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating an ISP connection registrationprocess of the video camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating an ISP connection registrationprocess of the customer database of an Internet service provider of FIG.1;

FIG. 12 is a view showing an example of Internet service providersetting information at step S79 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a view showing an example of setting information for thevideo camera at step S80 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 14A is a view illustrating setting items upon connection to theInternet through a conventional common Internet service provider;

FIG. 14B is a view illustrating setting items upon connection to theInternet through the Internet service provider to which the presentinvention is applied;

FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating an album utilization registrationprocess of the video camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 16 is a flow chart illustrating an album registration utilizationprocess of the image station for a video camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 17 is a flow chart illustrating an access process of the videocamera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 18 is a view illustrating utilization of a unified ID and password;

FIG. 19 is a view showing an example of an LCD screen on which an imagestored in a memory card is displayed;

FIG. 20 is a view showing an example of a screen displayed on the LCDafter a network button of FIG. 19 is selected;

FIG. 21 is a view showing an example of a screen displayed on the LCDafter a Web album button of FIG. 20 is selected;

FIG. 22 is a flow chart illustrating an editing/reading process of thevideo camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 23 is a flow chart continuing from that of FIG. 22 illustrating theediting/reading process of the video camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 24 is a flow chart continuing from that of FIG. 23 illustrating theediting/reading process of the video camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 25 is a flow chart continuing from that of FIG. 23 illustrating theediting/reading process of the video camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 26 is a flow chart illustrating a process of the image station fora video camera of FIG. 1 corresponding to the editing/reading process ofthe video camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 27 is a view showing an example of a screen displayed on the LCDafter a reading/editing button of FIG. 21 is selected;

FIG. 28 is a view showing an example of a screen displayed on the LCDafter the screen of FIG. 27 is displayed;

FIG. 29 is a view showing an example of an album selection page screendisplayed on the LCD;

FIG. 30 is a view showing an example of an album selection page screenwherein a cursor is on an album;

FIG. 31 is a view showing an example of a screen displayed at step S166of FIG. 22;

FIG. 32 is a view showing an example of a screen displayed at step S169of FIG. 23;

FIG. 33 is a view showing another example of a screen displayed at stepS169 of FIG. 23;

FIG. 34 is a view showing a further example of a screen displayed atstep S169 of FIG. 23;

FIG. 35 is a view showing a still further example of a screen displayedat step S169 of FIG. 23;

FIG. 36 is a view showing a yet further example of a screen displayed atstep S169 of FIG. 23;

FIG. 37 is, a view showing an example of a screen displayed on the LCDat step S173 of FIG. 23 and step S189 of FIG. 25;

FIG. 38 is a view showing an example of a screen displayed on the LCD atstep S174 of FIG. 23;

FIG. 39 is a view showing an example of a screen displayed on the LCD atstep S183 of FIG. 24;

FIG. 40 is a view showing an example of a screen displayed on the LCD atstep S185 of FIG. 24;

FIG. 41 is a view showing an example of a screen displayed on the LCD atstep S186 of FIG. 24;

FIG. 42 is a view showing an example of a screen displayed on the LCD atstep S190 of FIG. 25; and

FIG. 43 is a view showing another example of a screen displayed on theLCD at step S169 of FIG. 23.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 2 shows an example of a configuration of a service providing systemto which the present invention is applied. In the service providingsystem, a network system 14, a network service business center 15, animage station server 16, Internet service providers (ISP) 17 and 18, aninformation providing server 19, and a search server 20 are connected tothe Internet 10.

Further, the network system 14, Internet service provider 17 andInternet service provider 18 are connected to a public network 13. Alsothe Bluetooth adapter 12 is further connected to the public network 13.A video camera 11 can be connected to the Bluetooth adapter 12 throughshort distance radio communication in accordance with the Bluetooth(trademark) and further connected to the network system 14, the Internetservice provider 17, or the Internet service provider 18 through thepublic network 13.

The network system 14 includes an access point (AP) 31, a customerdatabase (C-DB) 32, a customer registration web server 33 and aregistration authentication platform (RAP) 34.

The access point 31 is connected to the public network 13. The customerdatabase 32 records several kinds of information of a user who haspurchased the video camera 11. The customer registration web server 33controls a registration process of the video camera 11. The registrationauthentication platform 34 executes an authentication process of theuser in the network system 14.

While, in the example of FIG. 2, the access point 31, customer database32, customer registration web server 33 and registration authenticationplatform 34 are formed individually, otherwise they can be formedintegrally.

The network service business center 15 has an image station 41 for avideo camera. The video camera image station 41 registers and managesimage data transmitted from the video camera 11.

The image station server 16 registers and manages image data transmittedfrom a personal computer not shown.

The Internet service provider 17 includes an access point 51, a customerdatabase 52 and a mail server 53. The mail server 53 includes a POPserver 54, and an SMTP server (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) 55.

The access point 51 performs a communication process with the publicnetwork 13. The customer database 52 registers various kinds ofinformation of the user of the Internet service provider 17. The POPserver 54 principally manages a process of transmission and reception ofa mail to and from the video camera 11. The SMTP server 55 principallymanages transmission and reception of a mail to and from another SMTPserver (in the case of the present example, an SMTP server 65 of theInternet service provider 18).

The Internet service provider 18 includes an access point 61 and acustomer database 62, and further includes a mail server 63 which inturn includes a POP server 64 and the SMTP server 65. This basicconfiguration is similar to that of the Internet service provider 17.

The information providing server 19 provides various kinds ofinformation regarding, for example, commodities of a predeterminedenterprise. The search server 20 provides a service of searching forvarious kinds of information laid open on the Internet 10.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a configuration of the video camera 11. Thevideo camera 11 is a video tape recorder of the type integrated with acamera and has an accessing function to the Internet 10. Referring toFIG. 3, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 71 executes various processes inaccordance with programs stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 72 orprograms loaded in a RAM (Random Access Memory) 73. Also data necessaryfor execution of various processes by the CPU 71 and so forth are storedsuitably into the RAM 73. Data necessary to be kept stored also afterthe power supply is disconnected are stored into an EEPROM (ElectricallyErasable Programmable Read Only Memory) 74.

The CPU 71, ROM 72, RAM 73 and EEPROM 74 are connected to each other bya bus 75. Also an input/output interface 76 is connected to the bus 75.

Further connected to the input/output interface 76 are an inputtingsection 77 including various buttons, switches and so forth, an LCD(Liquid Crystal Display) unit 78, a speaker 79, an image pickup element80 formed from a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image pickup element and soforth, a microphone 81 for fetching a sound signal, and a communicationsection 82 which performs short distance radio communication with theBluetooth adapter 12 in accordance with the Bluetooth.

A recording and reproduction section 83 records image data picked up bythe image pickup element 80, sound data gathered by the microphone 81and so forth onto a cassette magnetic tape loaded therein. Further, therecording and reproduction section 83 reproduces image data and sounddata recorded on a cassette magnetic tape, and outputs an imagecorresponding to the video data to the LCD unit 78 so that the imagedata are displayed on the LCD unit 78 while it supplies the sound datato the speaker 79 so that the sound data are outputted from the speaker79.

A memory card interface 84 executes, when a memory card 85 as a portablesemiconductor memory is loaded therein, a writing process and a readingout process of data into and from the memory card 85. Into the memorycard 85, not only image data picked up by the image pickup element 80and sound data gathered by the microphone 81 can be recorded, but alsovarious kinds of data acquired from the communication section 82 throughthe Internet 10 can be stored.

Image data picked up by the image pickup element 80 are stored into thememory card 85 where a memory mode is set, but are recorded onto thecassette magnetic tape where a camera mode is set.

An encoder/decoder 86 encodes or decodes image data in accordance withthe MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) system or the JEPG (JointPhotographic Coding Experts Group) system.

When necessary, a drive 87 is connected to the input/output interface76, and a magnetic disk 91, an optical disk 92, a magneto-optical disk93 or a semiconductor memory 94 is suitably loaded into the input/outputinterface 76 and a computer program read out from it is installed intothe RAM 73 when necessary.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a configuration of the customer registrationweb server 33. Referring to FIG. 4, a CPU 111 executes various processesin accordance with programs stored in a ROM 112 or programs loaded intoa RAM 113 from a storage section 118. Also data necessary for executionof various processes by the CPU 111 and so forth are stored suitablyinto the RAM 113.

The CPU 111, ROM 112 and RAM 113 are connected to each other by a bus114. Also an input/output interface 115 is connected to the bus 114.

Further connected to the input/output interface 115 are an inputtingsection 116 formed from a keyboard, a mouse and so forth, an outputtingsection 117 formed from a display unit such as a CRT or an LCD unit, aspeaker and so forth, a storage section 118 formed from a hard disk orthe like, and a communication section 119 formed from a modem, aterminal adapter and so forth. The communication section 119 performs acommunication process through a network including the Internet 10.

When necessary, a drive 120 is connected to the input/output interface115, and a magnetic disk 131, an optical disk 132, a magneto-opticaldisk 133 or a semiconductor memory 134 is suitably loaded into theinput/output interface 115 and a computer program read out from it isinstalled into the storage section 118 when necessary.

Where the access point 31, customer database 32 and registrationauthentication platform 34 are formed separately from the customerregistration web server 33, though not shown, they have a configurationbasically similar to that of the customer registration web server 33.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a configuration of the video camera imagestation 41 which composes the network business center 15. Components ofthe video camera image station 41 from a CPU 151 to a semiconductormemory 174 have a configuration basically similar to those of thecomponents of the customer registration web server 33 of FIG. 4 from theCPU 111 to the semiconductor memory 134, and those elements havingcorresponding names have corresponding functions. Accordingly,description of them is omitted to avoid redundancy.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a configuration of the customer database 52of the Internet service provider 17. Also components of the customerdatabase 52 from a CPU 191 to a semiconductor memory 214 have aconfiguration basically similar to that of the components of thecustomer registration web server 33 of FIG. 4 from the CPU 111 tosemiconductor memory 134, and those components having correspondingnames have corresponding functions. Therefore, overlapping descriptionof them is omitted to avoid redundancy.

Where the access point 51 and the mail server 53 (POP server 54 and SMTPserver 55) are formed separately from the customer database 52, alsothey have a configuration basically similar to that of the customerdatabase 52 of FIG. 6.

A user who has purchased the video camera 11 can enjoy a serviceprovided by the service providing system of FIG. 2. To this end, theuser of the video camera 11 will execute a process of registering thevideo camera 11 (the user thereof) into the network system 14. When thevideo camera 11 is purchased, the Bluetooth adapter 12 is annexed as anaccessory to the video camera 11 (if the Bluetooth adapter 12 is notannexed, then it is purchased separately), and the user can connect theBluetooth adapter 12 to the public network 13 to register the videocamera 11 (the user thereof) into the network system 14.

When this registration process is performed, a process illustrated in aflow chart of FIG. 7 is executed by the service providing system. Inparticular, at step S1, a digital image customer registration process isexecuted by the network system 14, and then at step S2, an ISPconnection registration process is executed by the Internet serviceprovider 17. Thereafter, at step S3, an album utilization registrationprocess is executed by the network business center 15.

Thus, the processes at steps S1 to S3 are described individually below.

First, the digital image customer registration process by the networksystem 14 is described with reference to flow charts of FIGS. 8 and 9.FIG. 8 illustrates a process of the video camera 11 when theregistration process is performed, and FIG. 9 illustrates acorresponding process of the customer registration web server 33.

At step S11, the user of the video camera 11 will operate the inputtingsection 77 to issue an instruction to access the network system 14. Thedestination of the access is stored in advance in the ROM 72. The CPU 71controls the communication section 82 based on the information stored inthe ROM 72 to issue an instruction to access the access point 31 of thenetwork system 14. Upon reception of the instruction, the communicationsection 82 communicates with the Bluetooth adapter 12 through shortdistance communication to access the access point 31 of the networksystem 14 from the Bluetooth adapter 12 through the public network 13.

A guest ID is utilized for this first time access to the network system14. In particular, if the user inputs, for example, “GUEST” as an ID,then the access point 31 permits the access. After the access point 31permits the access from the video camera 11, it passes the managementright for processing for the video camera 11 to the customerregistration web server 33.

The CPU 111 of the customer registration web server 33 issues, at thistime at step S31 of FIG. 9, a request to input personal information tothe user of the video camera 11. This request is outputted from thecommunication section 119 and transmitted to the video camera 11 throughthe access point 31, public network 13 and Bluetooth adapter 12.

Upon reception of the request from the communication section 82, the CPU71 of the video camera 11 outputs a message corresponding to the requestto the LCD unit 78 so that the message is displayed on the LCD unit 78at step S12.

The user of the video camera 11 will operate the inputting section 77based on the message to input its personal information. The personalinformation includes a registration code formed from 16 numerical andalphabetical letters of the video camera 11 (the registration code iscarried on a post card annexed to the video camera 11 when it ispurchased), a zip code, the name, an address, the date of birth, thesex, a telephone number, an electronic mail address and so forth of theuser, a product number (serial number) and the purchased date of thevideo camera 11, and so forth.

When such personal information is inputted, the CPU 71 of the videocamera 11 causes the personal information to be transmitted to thenetwork system 14 at step S12.

In particular, the CPU 71 controls the communication section 82 totransmit the inputted personal information to the network system 14. Thepersonal information is supplied to the customer registration web server33 through the Bluetooth adapter 12, public network 13 and access point31.

The CPU 111 of the customer registration web server 33 acquires thepersonal information through the communication section 119 and suppliesthe personal information to the RAM 113 so that the personal informationis temporarily stored into the RAM 113 at step S31 of FIG. 9.

After the personal information is registered into the RAM 113, the CPU111 produces a personal information confirmation screen and causes thepersonal information confirmation screen to be transmitted from thecommunication section 119 to the video camera 11 at step S32. The dataof the personal information confirmation screen are supplied from theaccess point 31 to the Bluetooth adapter 12 through the public network13 and then transmitted from the Bluetooth adapter 12 to the videocamera 11.

The CPU 71 of the video camera 11 receives the data of the personalinformation confirmation screen through the communication section 82 andstores the data once into the RAM 73 and then reads out and outputs thedata to the LCD unit 78 so that the personal information confirmationscreen is displayed on the LCD unit 78 at step S13 of FIG. 8.Consequently, the personal information inputted by the user of the videocamera 11 is displayed on the LCD unit 78 for confirmation by the user.

If the user operates the inputting section 77 to input that the personalinformation inputted by the user itself has been confirmed, then the CPU71 controls the communication section 82 to transmit the confirmationsignal to the customer registration web server 33.

The CPU 111 of the customer registration web server 33 receives theconfirmation signal through the communication section 119 and transfersthe personal information registered in the RAM 113 to the registrationauthentication platform 34 so that the personal information is storedinto the registration authentication platform 34 at step S32 of FIG. 9.

Then at step S33, the registration authentication platform 34 issues atemporary ID and a temporary password to the user of the video camera11. The temporary ID and the temporary password are supplied to thecustomer registration web server 33 and outputted from the communicationsection 119 so that they are transmitted to the video camera 11 throughthe access point 31, public network 13 and Bluetooth adapter 12.

The CPU 71 of the video camera 11 receives the temporary ID and thetemporary password from the communication section 82 and either suppliesthem to the LCD unit 78 so that they are displayed on the LCD unit 78 orsupplies them to the EEPROM 74 so that they are stored into the EEPROM74 at step S14 of FIG. 8.

The registration authentication platform 34 supplies the personalinformation of the user of the video camera 11 to the customer database32 so that the personal information is registered into the customerdatabase 32 at step S33.

At step S34, the customer database 32 supplies the personal informationto the video camera image station 41 of the network business center 15through the Internet 10.

The CPU 151 of the video camera image station 41 receives the personalinformation transmitted from the network system 14 through thecommunication section 159 and supplies the personal information to thestorage section 158 so that the personal information is stored into thestorage section 158 (at step S121 of FIG. 16 hereinafter described).

At step S35, the customer database 32 further transmits the personalinformation of the video camera 11 to the customer database 52 of theInternet service provider 17.

The customer database 52 of the Internet service provider 17 registersthe personal information of the video camera 11 transmitted from thenetwork system 14 through the Internet 10 (at step S71 of FIG. 11hereinafter described).

It is to be noted that, at step S36, when the personal information ofthe user of the video camera 11 is changed later in the network businesscenter 15, the customer database 32 of the network system 14 receivesthis from the video camera image station 41 through the Internet 10 andstores it into the customer database 32 itself. Further, the customerdatabase 32 supplies the updated personal information from the Internet10 to the customer database 52 of the Internet service provider 17 sothat the changed personal information is registered into the customerdatabase 52.

On the contrary, since, when the user of the video camera 11 changes thepersonal information, this is registered into the customer database 52in the Internet service provider 17, the customer database 52 issues anotification of this to the customer database 32 of the network system14 through the Internet 10. The customer database 32 overwrites theinputted personal information on the old personal information to updatethe personal information.

At this time, the customer database 32 further transmits the updatedpersonal information to the video camera image station 41 of the networkbusiness center 15 through the Internet 10.

The video camera image station 41 updates the old personal informationwith the inputted personal information.

In this manner, if the personal information in the network system 14,network business center 15 and Internet service provider 17 is updatedin any one of them, then this is reflected immediately on the real timebasis on the other two.

After the user of the video camera 11 is registered into the customerdatabase 32 of the network system 14 in such a manner as describedabove, the network system 14 thereafter issues a notification of variouskinds of information regarding the video camera 11 to the user of thevideo camera 11 when necessary through the Internet 10 or by such meansas a post card.

After the digital image customer registration process is completed insuch a manner as described above, the ISP connection registrationprocess is executed subsequently. In particular, when the customerregistration process is completed, the customer registration web server33 passes the management right for later processing for the video camera11 to the customer database 52 of the Internet service provider 17.

According, the ISP connection registration process is thereafterexecuted between the video camera 11 and the customer database 52 of theInternet service provider 17. FIG. 10 illustrates a process of the videocamera 11 in this instance, and FIG. 11 illustrates a correspondingprocess of the customer database 52.

After the CPU 191 of the customer database 52 of the Internet serviceprovider 17 receives the personal information transmitted from thecustomer database 32 of the network system 14 at step S35 of FIG. 9, itsupplies the personal information to the storage section 198 so that thepersonal information is stored into the storage section 198 at step S71of FIG. 11.

When the personal information of the video camera 11 is received at stepS71, the customer database 52 of the Internet service provider 17 issuesa request to the video camera 11 to input whether or not the useralready is a member of the Internet service provider 17 and input, ifthe user is a member, the user ID of the Internet service provider 17.

The CPU 71 of the video camera 11 receives the request and outputs acorresponding message to the LCD unit 78 so that the message isdisplayed on the LCD unit 78 at step S51 of FIG. 10. The user willobserve the display and operate, if the user itself is a member of theInternet service provider 17 already, the inputting section 77 to inputits user ID. On the other hand, if the user is not a member, this willbe inputted. The CPU 71 of the video camera 11 discriminates, at stepS52, whether or not the user ID of the Internet service provider 17 isinputted. If it is inputted that the user is not a member of theInternet service provider 17, then the CPU 71 controls the communicationsection 82 to transmit a notification of this to the customer database52 of the Internet service provider 17 at step S53.

The CPU 191 of the customer database 52 receives this input through thecommunication section 199 and discriminates that the user is not amember of the Internet service provider 17 at step S72 of FIG. 11.Thereafter, the processing advances to step S73, at which the CPU 191causes personal information for entry into the Internet service provider17 to be transmitted. As this personal information, the informationtransmitted from the network system 14 by the process at step S35 ofFIG. 9 and received and stored at step S71 is used basically as it is.

The CPU 71 of the video camera 11 receives the personal information forentry into the Internet service provider 17 through the communicationsection 82 and outputs the personal information to the LCD unit 78 sothat the personal information is displayed on the LCD unit 78 at stepS54 of FIG. 10.

This personal information is basically free from an error because it wasinputted by the user of the video camera 11 when it performed its userregistration into the network system 14. However, to make sure, the userwill observe the display and discriminate whether or not the personalinformation need be corrected. If the personal information need becorrected, then the user will operate the inputting section 77 to inputcorrection.

Thus, at step S55, the CPU 71 of the video camera 11 discriminateswhether or not correction is inputted. If correction is inputted, thenthe CPU 71 controls the communication section 82 to transmit thecorrected item to the customer database 52 of the Internet serviceprovider 17 at step S56. If correction is not inputted, then the processat step S56 is skipped.

The CPU 191 of the customer database 52 of the Internet service provider17 discriminates at step S74 of FIG. 11 whether or not correction isreceived through the communication section 199. If correction isreceived, then the CPU 191 corrects the registered personal informationbased on the received contents of the correction at step S75. Ifcorrection is not received, then the process at step S75 is skipped.

As the personal information, the personal information when the user whopurchased the video camera 11 performed its user registration into thenetwork system 14 is displayed basically as it is as describedhereinabove (from within the personal information, only that informationwhich is necessary for the user to become an Internet service providermember is displayed). Accordingly, the user need not input itemsbasically similar to the items which were inputted for user registrationinto the network system 14 again in order to become a member of theInternet service provider 17. Accordingly, the operability is improved.

Then at step S57, the CPU 71 of the video camera 11 controls the LCDunit 78 to display a message for urging the user to input a user nameand a password in accordance with an input guidance from the customerdatabase 52. The user of the video camera 11 will operate the inputtingsection 77 in accordance with the message to input the user name and thepassword which the user uses when it utilizes the Internet serviceprovider 17. The CPU 71 controls the communication section 82 totransmit the user name and the password thus inputted to the customerdatabase 52 of the Internet service provider 17.

The CPU 191 of the customer database 52 receives, at step S76, the username and the password through the communication section 199 anddiscriminates based on the data stored in the storage section 198whether or not the user name and the password are already used by someother user. If they are used, then a message representing this istransmitted from the communication section 199 to the video camera 11.

The CPU 71 of the video camera 11 receives the message through thecommunication section 82 and controls the LCD unit 78 to display themessage. The user of the video camera 11 will observe the display, andif it discriminates that the user name and the password inputted areregistered already, then it will input a new user name and a newpassword.

When the user name and the password are transmitted from the videocamera 11 in such a manner as described above, the CPU 191 of thecustomer database 52 acquires them through the communication section 199at step S76 of FIG. 11 and determines a user ID based on the user nameat step S77. This user ID is a user ID as a member of the Internetservice provider 17.

In the present service providing system, a common ID and a commonpassword can be used in the network system 14, network business center15 and Internet service provider 17. However, as described hereinabove,at the stage wherein user registration is performed into the networksystem 14, a temporary ID and a temporary password are already set tothe user of the video camera 11 (at step S14 of FIG. 8, and at step S33of FIG. 9).

In order to allow the user to enjoy a service provided by the Internetservice provider 17 based on the temporary ID and the temporarypassword, the CPU 191 produces, at step S78, a table which describes amatching relationship for matching the temporary ID and the temporarypassword issued by the network system 14 at step S33 of FIG. 9 andreceived by the process at step S71 with the user ID determined at stepS77, and registers the table into the ISP connection.

Consequently, when the user of the video camera 11 accesses the Internetservice provider 17 based on the temporary ID and the temporary passwordissued from the network system 14 at step S33 of FIG. 9 and received bythe video camera 11 at step S14 of FIG. 8, the customer database 52searches for the user ID corresponding to the temporary ID and thetemporary password from the table to allow the user of the video camera11 to utilize a service provided by the Internet service provider 17.

When registration of the user of the video camera 11 as a member of theInternet service provider 17 is completed in such a manner as describedabove, the CPU 191 transmits, at step S79, setting information necessaryfor accessing to the Internet service provider 17 to the video camera11.

The CPU 71 of the video camera 11 receives the Internet service providersetting information from the Internet service provider 17 and outputs itto the LCD unit 78 so that the Internet service provider settinginformation is displayed on the LCD unit 78 at step S58 of FIG. 10.Consequently, the user can confirm the Internet service provider settinginformation. The Internet service provider setting informationdescribes, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, PPP login, a PPP password,an access point telephone number, a POP ID, a POP password, an E-mailaddress, a POP server, an SMTP mail server, a news server and so forth.

The user of the video camera 11 will take a note of the contents shownin FIG. 12 when necessary and operate the inputting section 77 to outputa signal of confirmation to the Internet service provider 17.

The customer database 52 of the Internet service provider 17 transmitsvideo camera setting information at step S80.

The video camera 11 receives the video camera setting information andcontrols the LCD unit 78 to display the camera setting information atstep S59 of FIG. 10.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of the video camera setting informationtransmitted from the customer database 52 to the video camera 11 in thismanner. In the example illustrated, the video camera setting informationis composed of a DI customer ID, a DI password and an access pointtelephone number.

The access point telephone number represents a telephone number of apoint to be accessed when the video camera 11 establishes a connectionto the Internet 10, more particularly of the access point 51 of theInternet service provider 17.

The user of the video camera 11 will operate the inputting section 77 toset the video camera setting information displayed in this manner as arequirement for connection to the Internet 10 to the video camera 11 atstep S60 of FIG. 10. This setting is stored into the EEPROM 74.

For example, in order for the user who has purchased a personal computerto establish a connection to the Internet 10 through a general serviceprovider (in the example of FIG. 2, the Internet service provider 18),it must set such totaling 12 items including an ID for PPP connection, apassword for PPP connection, an access point telephone number, a PrimaryDNS server, a Secondary DNS server, a Proxy Server, a Port Number, an IDfor POP authentication, a password for POP authentication, a POP server,an SMTP server and a mail address as shown in FIG. 14A. However, asdescribed above, where the user who has purchased the video camera 11performs the ISP connection registration process, it is necessary forthe user of the video camera 11 only to set such three items including aUnified ID (which corresponds to the DI customer ID in FIG. 13), apassword (which corresponds to the DI password in FIG. 13) and an accesspoint telephone number (which corresponds to the access point telephonenumber in FIG. 13) as shown in FIG. 14B. Accordingly, even if the useris unfamiliar to such setting operation, it can perform operation forconnection to the Internet simply.

Where the user itself of the video camera 11 is a member of the Internetservice provider 17 already, it will operate the inputting section 77based on the request from the customer database 52 to input the user IDof the Internet service provider 17. Thus, in this instance, the CPU 71of the video camera 11 acquires the user ID of the Internet serviceprovider 17 inputted from the user and controls the communicationsection 82 to transmit the user ID of the Internet service provider 17to the customer database 52 at step S61 of FIG. 10.

The CPU 191 of the customer database 52 of the Internet service provider17 receives and acquires the user. ID of the Internet service provider17 transmitted from the video camera 11 at step S81 of FIG. 11, andproduces a table which describes a matching relationship between theInternet service provider ID of the user and the temporary ID and thetemporary password included in the personal information of the userreceived by the process at step S71 and registers the table into the ISPconnection at step S82.

The user will operate the inputting section 77 to set the video camerasetting information as a requirement for connection to the Internet 10at step S60 to the video camera 11. This setting is stored into theEEPROM 74. In order to allow the user to enjoy a service of the Internetservice provider 17 based on the temporary ID and the temporarypassword, the CPU 191 produces a table which describes a matchingrelationship for matching the temporary ID and the temporary passwordissued from the network system 14 at step S33 of FIG. 9 and received bythe process at step S71 with the Internet service provider ID of theuser and registers the table into the ISP connection. at step S82.

The CPU 191 of the customer database 52 advances its processing afterthe process at step S80 or S82 of FIG. 11 to step S83, at which ittransmits the information registered by the processing till then or,where the registration information is updated by the user, the updatedinformation, to the network system 14.

The registration authentication platform 34 of the network system 14receives the registration information from the Internet service provider17 and registers it into the customer database 32. Further, theregistration authentication platform 34 transmits the registrationinformation to the video camera image station 41 of the network businesscenter 15 so that the registration information may be reflected on thevideo camera image station 41.

Subsequently to such an ISP connection registration process, the albumutilization registration process is executed. The album utilizationregistration is further described with reference to flow charts of FIGS.15 and 16. FIG. 15 illustrates an album utilization registration processof the video camera 11 while FIG. 16 illustrates a corresponding albumutilization registration process of the video camera image station 41.

After the simple registration process of the Internet service provider,the CPU 191 of the customer database 52 of the Internet service provider17 passes the management right for processing of the video camera 11 tothe video camera image station 41 of the network business center 15.

The CPU 151 of the video camera image station 41 receives the personalinformation of the video camera 11 transmitted from the customerdatabase 32 of the network system 14 at step S34 of FIG. 34 through thecommunication section 159 and supplies the personal information to thestorage section 158 so that the personal information is stored into thestorage section 158 at step S121 of FIG. 16. The CPU 151 reads out thename and the mail address of the received personal information andtransmits them to the video camera 11 at step S122.

After the CPU 71 of the video camera 11 receives the name and the mailaddress from the video camera image station 41, it outputs them to theLCD unit 78 so that they are displayed on the LCD unit 78 at step S101.The user of the video camera 11 will observe the display to discriminatewhether or not the name and the mail address of the user itself arecorrect. It is to be noted that the mail address (E-mail address) is anE-mail address (FIG. 12) set in the member registration into theInternet service provider 17.

When the user of the video camera 11 confirms that the name and the mailaddress are correct, it will operate the inputting section 77 to input,if it acknowledges that the name and the mail address are used for albumutilization registration, this. Thus, at step S102, the CPU 71discriminates whether or not acknowledgement is inputted. Ifacknowledgement is inputted, then the processing advances to step S103,at which the CPU 71 causes an acknowledgement signal corresponding tothe input to be transmitted to the video camera image station 41.

On the other hand, if the user does not acknowledge the albumutilization registration, then the user will operate the inputtingsection 77 to input this. At this time, the CPU 71 causes anon-acknowledgement signal, which represents that the album utilizationregistration has not been acknowledged, to be transmitted to the videocamera image station 41 at, step S104.

The CPU 151 of the video camera image station 41 discriminates at stepS123 of FIG. 16 whether or not an acknowledgement signal is inputted. Ifan acknowledgement signal is inputted, then the processing advances tostep S124, at which the personal information received at step S121 isstored into the storage section 158.

On the other hand, if it is discriminated at step S123 that anacknowledgement signal is not inputted, then the process at step S124 isskipped.

The personal information corresponding to the temporary ID and thetemporary password issued by the network system 14 is registered intothe video camera image station 41 in this manner.

Thereafter, at step S125, the CPU 151 of the video camera image station41 transmits, if it is inputted from the user that the registrationinformation should be updated, this to the network system 14.

The customer database 32 of the network system 14 registers the updateinformation into the customer database 32 itself and transmits it to thecustomer database 52 of the Internet service provider 17 so that it isregistered into the customer database 52.

It is to be noted that, after the temporary ID and the temporarypassword are issued, the customer database 32 of the network system 14sends a post card, on which the regular ID and the regular password arecarried, to the address of the user. When the user receives the postcard, it will replace the temporary ID and the temporary password withand utilize the regular ID and the regular password.

After the regular ID and the regular password are issued, the customerdatabase 32 transmits them to the network business center 15 and theInternet service provider 17 through the Internet 10. In the networkbusiness center 15 and the Internet service provider 17, the regular IDand the regular password are registered individually. The temporary IDand the temporary password can be utilized only for a predeterminedperiod of time (for example, for two weeks) after they are issued, andthe network system 14, network business center 15 and Internet serviceprovider 17 individually consider the temporary ID and the temporarypassword valid only for two weeks and reject accessing thereof if thetemporary ID and the temporary password are used after the valid periodelapses.

It is to be noted that, while, in the foregoing description, userregistration is performed from the video camera 11 into the networksystem 14, it is otherwise possible to perform registration from apersonal computer through the Internet 10 or registration by a postcard.

Subsequently, a process when the video camera 11 establishes aconnection to the network system 14, network business center 15 orInternet service provider 17 is described with reference to a flow chartof FIG. 17. The user will operate the inputting section 77 to input thetemporary ID and the temporary password allocated upon user registrationinto the network system 14 (or the regular ID and the regular passwordset later). At step S141, the CPU 71 acquires the ID and the passwordinputted based on the operation of the inputting section 77 by the user.Further, at step S142, the CPU 71 discriminates whether or not theaccess destination designated by the user is the Internet serviceprovider 17.

If the access destination is the Internet service provider 17, then theprocessing advances to step S143, at which the CPU 71 executes a processof using the inputted ID and password to access the Internet serviceprovider 17.

If it is discriminated at step S142 that the access designation is notthe Internet service provider 17, then the processing advances to stepS144, at which the CPU 71 discriminates whether or not the accessdestination is the network system 14. If the access destination is thenetwork system 14, then the processing advances to step S145, at whichthe CPU 71 access the network system 14 based on the guest ID andpassword stored in advance in the ROM 72. Similarly, if it isdiscriminated at step S144 that the access destination is not thenetwork system (if it is discriminated that the access destination isthe network business center 15), the processing advances to step S146,at which the CPU 71 makes use of the ID and the password acquired atstep S141 to access the network business center 15 through the Internetservice provider 17.

In this manner, in the present service providing system, the user canenjoy a service provided using a temporary ID and a temporary password(same ID and password) issued upon user registration into the networksystem 14 as the IDs and the passwords for the network system 14,network business center 15 and Internet service provider 17 as seen inFIG. 18.

Incidentally, the user can transmit (upload) image data such as movingpictures or still pictures picked up by the video camera 11 and storedin the memory card 85 so that the image data are stored into the videocamera image station 41. The video camera image station 41 stores imagedata separately for different users in the storage section 158. When auser stores image data into the storage section 158 of the video cameraimage station 41, each user has an upper limit (for example, 500 MB) tothe storage capacity available to the user, and the user can freelystore image data or read, download or delete stored image data withinthe range of the storage capacity.

It is to be noted that the user can store not only image data picked upusing the video camera 11 but also image data picked up using some otherimage pickup apparatus or image data acquired through the Internet 10into the video camera image station 41.

Further, each user of the video camera image station 41 can store aplurality of image data for each user in a form classified in some of 10groups. Therefore, when a user wants to read particular image data fromamong the stored image data, it can operate the video camera 11 in sucha sense as to pick up and read a desired album (group) from amongseveral albums (groups) arranged for individual themes, and can registeror search out desired image data rapidly.

It is to be noted that such a group as mentioned above is hereinafterreferred to as album.

If the user operates the inputting section 77 to issue an instruction toread out a still image fetched by the image pickup element 80 andrecorded on the memory card 85, then the CPU 71 reads out the imagerecorded on the memory card 85 and causes the LCD unit 78 to display theimage. FIG. 19 illustrates an example of a display in this instance.Referring to FIG. 19, a battery remaining amount indication 301 isdisplayed at a left upper portion, and an image ID 302 is displaced justbelow the battery remaining amount indication 301, and the consecutivenumber of the displayed image and an image number 303 representative ofthe number of images stored in the memory card 85 are displayed at aright upper portion. In particular, the battery remaining amountindication 301 displays the remaining capacity of a battery (not shown)which serves as a power supplying source when the video camera 11 isdriven. The image ID 302 of “DSC00034” is an identification number whichis automatically allocated to the picked up image by the CPU 71. Theimage number 303 “29/30” represents that 30 image data are recorded inthe memory card 85 and what is currently displayed on the LCD unit 78 isimage data picked up 29th among them.

At a lower portion of FIG. 19, a minus button 304, a plus button 305, anetwork button 306, an image pickup button 307, an index button 308 anda function button 309 are displayed in order from the left (in thefollowing description, a button displayed on the LCD unit 78 like thebuttons mentioned is referred to as displayed button). The user canoperate a predetermined button of the inputting section 77 to adjust acursor to an arbitrary one of such displayed buttons and decide it sothat a process corresponding to the selected displayed button isperformed. When the cursor is adjusted, the display color of thedisplayed button changes to a different color, and therefore, the usercan identify that the cursor is adjusted to the displayed button(identify the cursor from the color).

If the user inputs a predetermined operation from the inputting section77 (operates a + button not shown) to select the minus button 304, thenthe CPU 71 reads out image data whose consecutive number is smaller byone than that of the image which has been displayed till then from thememory card 85 and controls the LCD unit 78 to display the image data.However, when the minus button 304 is selected, if the consecutivenumber of the image having been displayed is 1, the CPU 71 reads outimage data having the greatest consecutive number from the memory card85 and causes the image data to be displayed.

If the user inputs a predetermined operation from the inputting section77 and selects the plus button 305, the CPU 71 reads out image datahaving a consecutive number greater by one than that of image datahaving been displayed till then from the memory card 85 and causes theimage data to be displayed. However, when the plus button 305 isselected, if the consecutive number of the image having been displayedis the greatest consecutive number, the CPU 71 reads out image datawhose consecutive number is 1 from the memory card 85 and causes theimage data to be displayed.

If an operation for selecting the image pickup button 307 of FIG. 19 isinputted through the inputting section 77, the CPU 71 starts a series ofprocesses for driving the image pickup element 80 so that an image of animage pickup object can be picked up.

If the index button 308 is selected, then the CPU 71 controls the LCDunit 78 to display indices to image data (including still pictures andmoving pictures) recorded on the memory card 85 as displayed buttons. Ifone of the displayed buttons of the displayed indices is selected, thenthe CPU 71 reads out image data corresponding to the selected displayedbutton from the memory card 85 and controls the LCD unit 78 to displaythe image data.

If the function button 309 is selected, then the CPU 71 controls the LCDunit 78 to display a screen for guiding a change in setting of variousfunctions of the video camera 11 such as, for example, selective settingof an image pickup method in accordance with an image pickupenvironment, erasure of picked up image data and time setting.

If the network button 306 is selected, then the CPU 71 controls the LCDunit 78 to change over the screen displayed on the LCD unit 78 from thescreen of FIG. 19 to such a screen of a network menu as shown in FIG.20. In FIG. 20, a screen title 321 is displayed at an upper portion ofthe screen, and a mail button 322, a Web album button 323, a browserbutton 324 and a setting button 325 are displayed at a central portionof the screen while an end button 326 is displayed at a right lowerportion of the screen. If the user inputs a predetermined operation fromthe inputting section 77 to select the mail button 322, then the CPU 71starts a series of processes for performing transmission and receptionof an electronic mail through the Internet service provider 17. If thebrowser button 324 is selected by the user, then the CPU 71 establishesa connection to the information providing server 19 or the search server20 desired by the user through the Internet 10 and controls the LCD unit78 to display information acquired through the connection.

If the Web album button 323 is selected by the user, then the CPU 71accesses the video camera image station 41 of the network businesscenter 15 to execute an image reading/editing process which ishereinafter described.

If the setting button 325 is selected by the user, then the CPU 71starts a process of changing the setting of one of the video camera 11,network system 14, Internet service provider 17 and network businesscenter 15 regarding the network functions (functions including thefunctions regarding a mail, a browser and a Web album described above).If the end button 326 is selected by the user, then the CPU 71 ends thedisplay of the screen of FIG. 20 and restores the screen of FIG. 19.

If the user selects the Web album button 323 on the display example ofFIG. 20 through a predetermined operation of the inputting section 77,then the CPU 71 controls the LCD unit 78 to display such a screen of aWeb album menu as shown in FIG. 21. In particular, in the displayexample of FIG. 21, a screen title 331, and an upload button 332, areading/editing button 333 and an end button 334, which are displayedbuttons, are displayed. If a predetermined operation is inputted fromthe inputting section 77 to select the upload button 332, then the CPU71 starts a series of upload processes of supplying image data includingstill pictures and moving pictures stored in the memory card 85 to theWeb album managed by the video camera image station 41 so that the imagedata are stored into the Web albums.

If the user adjusts the cursor to the reading/editing button 333 anddecides it, then a series of processes regarding reading and editing ofa Web album which are hereinafter described are started. If the endbutton 334 is selected, then the CPU 71 erases the screen of FIG. 21displayed on the LCD unit 78 to restore the screen of FIG. 20.

Subsequently, an image data reading and editing process in which thevideo camera 11 is used is described with reference to flow charts ofFIGS. 22 to 26. FIGS. 22 to 25 illustrate a process of the video camera11 when a reading/editing process is performed while FIG. 26 illustratesa corresponding process of the video camera image station 41.

If it is assumed that the user selects the reading/editing button 333 onthe display example of FIG. 21, then the CPU 71 performs the series ofaccessing processes described hereinabove with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 17 to access the video camera image station 41 of thenetwork business center 15 and issue a request to transmit an image ofan album selection page at step S161.

It is to be noted that communication from the video camera 11 to thevideo camera image station 41 is performed from the Bluetooth adapter 12through the public network 13, access point 51 of the Internet serviceprovider 17 and the Internet 10 after the communication section 82 ofthe video camera 11 performs short distance radio communication with theBluetooth adapter 12. On the contrary, communication from the videocamera image station 41 to the video camera 11 is performed to thecommunication section 82 of the video camera 11 through the Internet 10,access point 51 of the Internet service provider 17, public network 13and Bluetooth adapter 12. Transmission/reception between the videocamera 11 and the video camera image station 41 are performed basicallyalong this communication paths.

In the following description, where there is no necessity to provideparticular description, description of the Bluetooth adapter 12, publicnetwork 13, access point 51 of the Internet service provider 17, andInternet 10 is omitted.

Until after a communication line between the video camera 11 and thevideo camera image station 41 is connected, the CPU 71 of the videocamera 11 controls the LCD unit 78 to display such an image as shown inFIG. 27. In the example of FIG. 27, a guide indication 351 of “Dialing .. . ” is displayed. While the screen shown in FIG. 27 is displayed, theuser can interrupt accessing to the video camera image station 41 at anytime by selecting a cancel button 352 at the lower portion. If thecancel button 352 is operated, then the CPU 71 returns the screen to bedisplayed on the LCD unit 78 to the screen shown in FIG. 21.

If the video camera image station 41 of the network business center 15is accessed from the video camera 11 through the communication section159, then the CPU 151 refers to the personal information of the usersstored in the storage section 158 to specify the user from the ID andthe password included in the access information at step S201.

While the video camera image station 41 performs a process of specifyingthe user, the CPU 71 of the video camera 11 controls the LCD unit 78 todisplay a guide indication 361 of “Authenticating the ID and thepassword” as shown in FIG. 28. It is to be noted that, while the screenshown in FIG. 28 is displayed, the user can select a cancel button 362at a lower portion to interrupt the communication with the video cameraimage station 41 at any time. When the cancel button 362 is operated,the CPU 71 returns the screen to be displayed on the LCD unit 78 to thescreen shown in FIG. 21.

The video camera image station 41 manages registered users and albums ofthe individual users in a matching relationship, and at step S202, theCPU 151 of the video camera image station 41 reads out an image of thealbum selection page corresponding to the user specified at step S201and incidental information to each album from the storage section 158and transmits them to the video camera 11.

The CPU 71 of the video camera 11 acquires the image of the albumselection page and the incidental information supplied from the videocamera image station 41 through the communication section 82 at stepS162, and controls the LCD unit 78 to display the image of the albumselection page and urge the user to select an album at step S163.

FIG. 29 shows an example of an image of the album selection pagedisplayed on the LCD unit 78. Referring to FIG. 29, a horizontal scrollbar 371 and a vertical scroll bar 372 are displayed on the screen. Inthe screen 373, album indices 374 to 378 are displayed. Further, a timeindication 379 for indicating the connection time to the present time isdisplayed at an upper portion of the screen.

It is to be noted that, while the time indication 379 is displayed alsoin the drawings used in the following description, description thereofis omitted suitably to avoid redundancy.

If the user inputs a predetermined operation to move the bar of thehorizontal scroll bar 371 in a horizontal direction or move the verticalscroll bar 372 in a vertical direction, then the CPU 71 causes thedisplay of the screen 373 to be scrolled in the horizontal or verticaldirection.

When the user stores image data into the video camera image station 41,it can select a desired album from among a plurality of albums and storethe image data into the selected album, and the album indices 374 to 378are indices of the albums into which image data are to be stored in thismanner.

An “Album 1 (8 images)” displayed on the album index 374 represents thatthe album name is “Album 1” and the number of images included in theAlbum 1 is 8. The album name may be varied to a name desired by the userby inputting a predetermined operation from the inputting section 77.Also the indications of the album indices 375 to 378 each represents analbum name and the number of images included in the album similarly.

While, in FIG. 29, five album indices having album names of Album 1 toAlbum 5 are displayed, by scrolling the screen downwardly by apredetermined operation of the inputting section 77, album indices forthe Album 6 and so forth (for example, up to the Album 10) can bedisplayed.

It is to be noted that the number of albums is not limited to the number(10) specified as above, but can be set arbitrarily by an undertaker bywhich the video camera image station 41 is managed.

At step S164, the CPU 71 of the video camera 11 waits until an operationof selecting an album by the user is inputted from the inputting section77.

FIG. 30 shows an example of a screen displayed on the LCD unit 78 in awaiting state. The screen is same as that of FIG. 29 except that acursor 380 is adjusted to the album index 376. The user can select analbum by adjusting the cursor 380 to an album to be read and edited by apredetermined operation of the inputting section 77, and when the cursor380 is adjusted to an album, the album is displayed in a distinct mannerfrom the other album indices.

On the album selection page, the number of image data included in eachalbum is displayed on the right side of the name, and an album in whichno image data is stored, that is, an album with regard to which “0image” is displayed in the parentheses on the right side (for example,the “Album 4” of the album index 377), can be distinguished at a glance.However, the user may possibly select the album in error.

Therefore, if the user inputs an operation of adjusting the cursor 380to a desire album (for example, the album index 377) from the inputtingsection 77, then the CPU 71 discriminates, at step S165, based onincidental information acquired from the video camera image station 41at step S162 and corresponding to the individual albums, whether or notthe selected album includes one or more images. If it is discriminatedthat the selected album includes no image, then the processing advancesto step S166, at which the CPU 71 controls the LCD unit 78 to displaysuch an error message as shown in FIG. 31.

In the example of FIG. 31, a time indication 379 is displayed at anupper portion of the screen and an album index 381 “Album 4 (0 image)”of the selected album is displayed below the time indication 379, and aguide indication 382 “This album includes no image” is displayed at acentral portion of the screen while a transition button 383 is displayedat the lowest portion. The album index 381 “Album 4 (0 image)” indicatesthat the album name is “Album 4” and the number of image data includedin the Album 4 is 0. If inputting of selecting the transition button 383is performed by the user, then the processing returns to step S163 sothat the processes described above are repeated.

If the CPU 71 discriminates at step S165 that the selected albumincludes an image, then the processing advances to step S167.

At step S167, the CPU 71 issues a request to the video camera imagestation 41 through the communication section 82 to transmit data ofindex images of the selected album.

At step S203, the CPU 151 of the video camera image station 41 reads outdata of the index images of the album of the object of the request andimage IDs corresponding to the images (information including the filesize of each image data and information regarding the format) from thestorage section 158 and controls the communication section 159 to supplythe information to the video camera 11.

After the data of the index images of the album and the image IDscorresponding to the images are acquired through the communicationsection 82 at step S168, the CPU 71 controls, at step S169, the LCD unit78 to display the index images of the album acquired at step S168 andurge the user to select an image to be downloaded.

FIGS. 32 to 36 show examples of the index images displayed on the LCDunit 78.

Referring to FIG. 32, an album index 391 “Album 3 (9 images)” isdisplayed at a left upper portion and a displayed page number 392 “1/3page” is displayed just below the album index 391, and a transitionbutton 393 “To the album selection page” is displayed at a rightportion. Further, index images 394 to 399 are displayed on the screen.Below each image, a square check box and information regarding the image(the data amount and the extension of the file) are displayed.

In FIG. 32, the album index 391 indicates the name of the displayedalbum, that is, of the album selected by the user at step S164. Thedisplayed page number 392 “1/3 page” displayed just below the albumindex 391 indicates that the Album 3 includes 3 pages and the first pageamong them is displayed at present.

If the transition button 393 is selected by the user, then theprocessing returns to step S163, at which the CPU 71 controls the LCDunit 78 to display an image of the album selection page of FIG. 29.

At a central portion of the screen of FIG. 32, six index images(thumbnail images), that is, index images 394 to 399 are displayed, andbelow each index image, a square check box and the file size and theformat of the image data are displayed. For example, in the case of theindex image 394, “300 KB JPG” is displayed, and this indicates that thefile size (data amount) is 300 KB and the extension of the file is JPG.This extension represents a compression method of the data, and JPGindicates that the compression method is the JPEG.

It is to be noted that, where image data recorded in the video cameraimage station 41 are a still picture, image data whose size is reducedto reduce the file size are used for the index image.

Where corresponding image data recorded in the video camera imagestation 41 are moving pictures, image data of an image of a frameselected arbitrarily from among the moving pictures by the user whichhave a reduced size are produced and used as an index image.

The user can designate an index image of an image to be downloaded (ordeleted) from the album by inserting a check into a check box positionedbelow the index image by a predetermined operation of the inputtingsection 77. If such designation is performed, then the CPU 71 causes amark x to be displayed in the check box immediately below the indeximage as indicated, for example, by the index image 397.

Incidentally, while, for example, the Album 3 includes nine images asseen from “Album 3 (9 images)” displayed for the album index 391, theLCD unit 78 cannot sometimes display nine index images (thumbnailimages) at a time. In such an instance, if the user inputs apredetermined operation from the inputting section 77, then the CPU 71scrolls the displayed screen in a horizontal direction so that theremaining images on the other page are displayed.

Also it is possible to scroll the displayed screen in a verticaldirection by inputting a predetermined operation from the inputtingsection 77. If the displayed screen is scrolled in a vertical direction,then the screen shown in FIG. 33 is displayed on the LCD unit 78.

Referring to FIG. 33, the three index images 397 to 399 displayed at alower portion in FIG. 32 are displayed at an upper portion of thescreen, and the album index 391 “Album 3 (9 images)” is displayed at acentral portion of the screen. Just below the album index 391, a pagenumber 411 is displayed. The album index 391 and the page number 411individually correspond to those displayed in FIG. 32.

At a lower portion of FIG. 33, an all selection button 412, an all clearbutton 413, a deletion button 414 and a download button 415 which aredisplayed buttons are displayed.

If the user inputs a predetermined operation to the inputting section 77to select the all selection button 412, then the CPU 71 places a checkinto the check boxes of all of the images in the displayed page. Incontrast, if the user selects the all clear button 413, then the CPU 71erases, if a check is displayed in one or more of the check boxes in thedisplayed page, all of the displayed checks.

Through the use of the all selection button 412 or the all clear button413, when the user wants to place a check into the check boxes of all ofthe images in the displayed page or erase such check or checks, the usercan save the time to place (erase) a check for each one image.

If the deletion button 414 is selected by the user, then the CPU 71starts a process of erasing the image corresponding to each of thechecked index images from the album (hereinafter described as processesat steps beginning with step S188).

If the download button 415 is selected by the user, then the CPU 71starts a process of downloading image data of the image corresponding toeach of the checked index images from the video camera image station 41.

While, in the examples of the index image displayed on the LCD unit 78shown in FIGS. 32 and 33, six index images in the maximum are displayedon the LCD unit 78, also it is possible to display, for example, onlyone of the displayed index images in an enlarged scale.

For example, when the index image 397 is to be displayed in an enlargedscale, the cursor 421 is first adjusted to the index image 397 byinputting a predetermined operation to the inputting section 77 from theuser. FIG. 34 shows the index image 397 to which the cursor 421 isadjusted.

As shown in FIG. 34, the user can perform a predetermined operation ofthe inputting section 77 to input an operation of adjusting the cursor421 to a desired one of the index images and determining the index imageto display an image selected through the cursor 421 in an enlargedscale.

When the enlarging instruction is issued, the CPU 71 issues a requestfor transmission of the enlarged image to the video camera image station41, receives image data transmitted thereto in response to the requestand controls the LCD unit 78 to display the image data. FIG. 35 shows anexample of the display in this instance.

In FIG. 35, displayed buttons of a transition button 431 “Backward”,another transition button 432 “Forward” and a further transition button433 “To the index page” are displayed at an upper portion of the screen,and an enlarged index image 434 is displayed at a central portion of thescreen. Further, a horizontal scroll bar 371 and a vertical scroll bar372 are displayed on the screen.

Images included in an album have predetermined consecutive numbersassigned thereto in advance, and if an operation of selecting thetransition button 431 “Backward” is inputted from the inputting section77, then the CPU 71 controls so that an index image having a consecutivenumber preceding by one to that of the index image being currentlydisplayed is displayed in an enlarged scale. On the contrary, if anoperation of selecting the transition button 432 “Forward” is inputted,then the CPU 71 controls so that an index image having a consecutivenumber immediately succeeding to that of the currently displayed indeximage.

If a predetermined operation of selecting the transition button 433 “Tothe index page” at a right upper portion of the screen shown in FIG. 35is inputted, then the CPU 71 controls so that the display is returned tothe screen of the list display of index images of FIG. 32.

The user can input a predetermined operation to the inputting section 77to operate the vertical scroll bar 372 to scroll the screen shown inFIG. 35 downwardly. If this scrolling instruction is issued, then theCPU 71 controls the LCD unit 78 to display such a screen as shown inFIG. 36.

In FIG. 36, a portion lower than the index image 434 shown in FIG. 35 isdisplayed. Below the index image 434, a transition button 441 “Backward”and another transition button 442 “Forward” are displayed. Further belowthem, image information 443, that is, the file size and an indication ofthe format “282 KB JPG” of the image, are displayed, and a deletionbutton 444 and a download button 445 are displayed at a lowermostportion. The transition button 441 “Backward” and the transition button442 “Forward” have same functions as those of the transition button 431“Backward” and the transition button 432 “Forward”, respectively.

The deletion button 444 and the download button 445 have functions sameas those of the corresponding buttons of FIG. 33, that is, the deletionbutton 414 and the download button 415, respectively. It is to be noted,however, that, while, in the example of FIG. 33, all of imagescorresponding to the index images having checks applied to the checkboxes thereof are downloaded (or deleted) from the album, in the exampleof FIG. 36, only an image corresponding to the index image displayed inan enlarged scale is downloaded (or deleted).

In order to execute the processes described above, the CPU 71 waits atstep S170 that a displayed button is selected by the user. When adisplayed button is selected, the processing advances to step S171, atwhich the CPU 71 discriminates whether or not the displayed buttonselected by the user is the download button 415 (or download button445). If the displayed button selected by the user is the downloadbutton 415 (or download button 445), then the processing advances tostep S172, at which the CPU 71 discriminates whether or not an image tobe downloaded is selected. In particular, the CPU 71 discriminateswhether or not a check is placed in at least one or more of the checkboxes on the display example shown in FIG. 32 or 33.

It is to be noted that, if it is discriminated at step S170 that theimage displayed on the LCD unit 78 when a displayed button is selectedis the index image displayed in an enlarged scale as shown in FIG. 35 or36, then the CPU 71 discriminates at step S172 that the index imagedisplayed in an enlarged scale is selected.

If it is discriminated at step S172 that an image to be downloaded isnot selected, then the processing advances to step S173, at which theCPU 71 controls the LCD unit 78 to display such an error message asshown in FIG. 37. In the display example of FIG. 37, a guide indication451 “Please select an image” is displayed at a central portion of thescreen. If an input of selecting a OK button 452 below the guideindication 451 is performed by the user, then the processing returns tostep S169, at which the CPU 71 controls the LCD unit 78 to display suchan index image or images as shown in one of FIGS. 32 to 36 so that theprocesses described above are repeated.

If the CPU 71 discriminates at step S172 that an image to be downloadedis selected, then the processing advances to step S174, at which the CPU71 controls the LCD unit 78 to display such an image as shown in FIG. 38and urges the user to perform selection of whether or not downloadingshould be performed. As shown in FIG. 38, a guide indication 461 “Two(577 KB) images are stored into the memory card” and the number (two) ofimages to be downloaded as well as a total file size (577 KB) of theimage data to be downloaded are displayed at a central portion of thescreen. A cancel button 462 and an OK button 463 are displayed at alower portion of the screen. The user can perform a predeterminedoperation to the inputting section 77 to select the cancel button 462 orthe OK button 463. It is to be noted that, on the screen of FIG. 38, thecursor is adjusted to the cancel button 462 as default. Then, if it isdetermined which one of the cancel button 462 and the OK button 463should be selected, the user can adjust the cursor to the desireddisplayed button and depress a predetermined button of the inputtingsection 77 to decide the selection.

At step S175, the CPU 71 waits until an operation of deciding theselection is inputted to the inputting section 77 by the user. If anoperation of deciding the selection is inputted by the user, then theprocessing advances to step S176.

If it is discriminated at step S176 that the selection inputted to theinputting section 77 by the user is not a downloading instruction (if itis discriminated that the cancel button 462 is selected), then theprocessing returns to step S169 so that the processes describedhereinabove are repeated.

If it is discriminated at step S176 that the selection inputted to theinputting section 77 by the user is a downloading instruction (if it isdiscriminated that the OK button 463 is selected), then the processingadvances to step S177, at which the CPU 71 extracts those check boxesfor the index images shown in FIG. 32 or 33 in which a check is placed.Then at step S178, the CPU 71 produces Form data of the HTML (Hyper TextMarkup Language) which includes the check box information extracted atstep S177 and transmits the Form data to the video camera image station41.

The CPU 151 of the video camera image station 41 is accessed from thevideo camera 11 at step S204 and discriminates at step S205 whether ornot the request from the video camera 11 is downloading of image data.If the CPU 151 discriminates that the request is downloading, then theprocessing advances to step S206.

The storage section 158 of the video camera image station 41 stores theimages in the album and the check boxes in a matching relationship, andat step S206, the CPU 151 of the video camera image station 41 reads outthe check box information included in the Form data of the HTMLtransmitted from the video camera 11 and transmits a download list ofthe images corresponding to the check boxes to the video camera 11. Itis to be noted that the download list is information including theformat of the image data, the file size and the URL (Uniform ResourceLocator) of the accessing destination for accessing when the image dataare to be downloaded.

The communication section 82 of the video camera 11 receives thedownload list of the selected images from the video camera image station41 at step S179.

At step S180, the CPU 71 analyzes the image information based on thedownload list received at step S179. In particular, the CPU 71 picks upthe download list corresponding to the image having the lowestconsecutive number from among the one or more images selected fordownloading and extracts information regarding the file size and theformat of the image.

It is to be noted that the information included in the download list isnot displayed on the LCD unit 78.

At step S181, the CPU 71 accesses the memory card 85 through the memorycard interface 84 and calculates a free storage capacity of the memorycard 85.

At step S182, the CPU 71 compares the file size of the image analyzed atstep S180 with the free storage capacity of the memory card 85calculated at step S181 to discriminate whether or not the file size ofthe image is greater than the free storage capacity thereby todiscriminate the selected image can be recorded into the memory card 85.If the file size is greater than the free capacity, that is, if it isdiscriminated that the selected image cannot be recorded into the memorycard 85, then the processing advances to step S183, at which an errorprocess is executed.

In particular, the CPU 71 controls the LCD unit 78 to display a screenshown in FIG. 39. In FIG. 39, a guide indication 481 “The capacity ofthe memory card is short” is displayed at a central portion of thescreen. If an input of selecting an OK button 482 at a lower portion isperformed by the user, then the processing advances to step S169 so thatthe processes described above are repeated.

If the CPU 71 discriminates at step S182 that the selected image cannotbe recorded into the memory card 85, then the processing advances tostep S184.

A list of downloadable formats for an image is stored in advance in theROM 72, and at step S184, the CPU 71 refers to the list of downloadableformats for an image stored in the ROM 72 in advance to discriminatewhether or not the format of the image analyzed at step S180 is adownloadable format. If the selected image data do not have adownloadable format, then the step S185 is skipped and the processingadvances to step S186.

If the CPU 71 discriminates at step S184 that the image data are imagedata of a downloadable format, then the processing advances to stepS185, at which the CPU 71 reads out the URL corresponding to the imageto be downloaded from the download list acquired at step S179 andaccesses the corresponding URL of the video camera image station 41through the communication section 82.

At this time, the corresponding URL of the video camera image station 41receives an access from the video camera 11 at step S207 and performs aprocess of supplying image data to the video camera 11 from the accessedURL at step S208.

The video camera 11 starts downloading of the image data. The image datadownloaded by the video camera 11 are recorded into the memory card 85from the communication section 82 through the memory card interface 84.

It is to be noted that, during the downloading, the CPU 71 controls theLCD unit 78 to display such a screen as shown in FIG. 40. In particular,a guide indication 501 “Storing into the memory card . . . ” isdisplayed at a central portion of the screen, and a cancel button 502 isdisplayed at a lower portion. When the user wants to interrupt thedownloading during the downloading, it can interrupt the downloading byinputting a predetermined operation of selecting the cancel button 502from the inputting section 77. After the downloading is interrupted, theCPU 71 returns the processing to step S169 so that the processesdescribed hereinabove are repeated.

After the downloading comes to an end, the processing advances to stepS186.

At step S186, the CPU 71 discriminates whether or not there remains animage which has not been downloaded as yet in the selected images, andif there remains an image which has not been downloaded as yet, then theprocessing returns to step S180 so that the processes described aboveare repeated. However, any image with regard to which it has beendiscriminated whether or not it should be downloaded when thedownloading information of that image which has the lowest consecutivenumber is picked up from among the one or more images selected by theuser is not picked up any more.

In this manner, when the video camera 11 downloads the selected imagesin order beginning with the lowest consecutive number, also the videocamera image station 41 repeats a corresponding process, that is, theprocesses at steps S207 and S208 to successively supply the image data.

While the video camera 11 successively downloads the selected images insuch a manner as described above, if it is discriminated at step S186that there does not remain an image which has not been downloaded in theselected images (that is, if it is discriminated that all of theselected images have been downloaded), then the CPU 71 controls the LCDunit 78 to display such a screen as shown in FIG. 41. In particular, aguide indication 511 “Stored” is displayed at a central portion of thescreen, and an OK button 512 is displayed at a lower portion. If apredetermined operation of the inputting section 77 is performed, thenthe OK button 512 is selected, and when the OK button 512 is selected,the CPU 71 returns the processing to step S169 so that the processesdescribed above are repeated.

Further, after the supply of all of the images of an object of therequest from the video camera 11 to the video camera 11 is completed,the video camera image station 41 ends the series of processes and waitsuntil it is accessed from the video camera 11. If the video camera imagestation 41 receives an access from the video camera 11, then the videocamera image station 41 executes a process corresponding to the requestfrom the video camera 11.

A downloading operation of image data from the video camera imagestation 41 to the video camera 11 is performed in such a manner asdescribed above.

On the other hand, if the CPU 71 discriminates at step S171 of FIG. 23that the displayed button selected by the user does not indicate aninstruction to start downloading, then the processing advances to stepS187.

At step S187, the CPU 71 discriminates whether or not the displayedbutton selected by the user is the deletion button 414 (or the deletionbutton 444). If the displayed button selected by the user is thedeletion button 414 (or the deletion button 444), then the processingadvances to step S188, at which the CPU 71 discriminates whether or notan image to be deleted is selected. In particular, the CPU 71discriminates whether or not a check is placed in at least one or moreof the check boxes in FIG. 32 or 33.

It is to be noted that, if the image displayed on the LCD unit 78 at apoint of time when a displayed button is selected at step S170 is anenlarged displayed index image as shown in FIG. 35 or 36, the CPU 71discriminates at step S185 that the index image displayed in an enlargedscale is selected.

If the CPU 71 discriminates at step S188 that an image to be deleted isnot selected, then the processing advances to step S189, at which theLCD unit 78 displays such an error message as shown in FIG. 37. Sincedescription of FIG. 37 is given hereinabove, it is omitted. If an inputof selecting the OK button 452 at a lower portion of the screen isperformed by the user, then the processing returns to step S169, atwhich the CPU 71 controls the LCD unit 78 to display such an index imageor images as shown in one of FIGS. 32 to 36 so that the processesdescribed above are repeated.

If the CPU 71 discriminates at step S188 that an image to be deleted isselected, then the processing advances to step S190, at which the CPU 71controls the LCD unit 78 to display a screen shown in FIG. 42.

In FIG. 42, a guide indication 521 “May the two images be deleted fromthis album?” is displayed at a central portion of the screen, and acancel button 522 and an OK button 523 are displayed at a portion belowthe guide indication 521. The user can select the cancel button 522 orthe OK button 523 by performing a predetermined operation of theinputting section 77 to adjust the cursor and make a decision. It is tobe noted that, on the screen of FIG. 42, the cursor is adjusted to thecancel button 522 as default. Then, the user can adjust the cursor to adesired displayed button and depress a predetermined button of theinputting section 77 to decide the selection.

At step S191, the CPU 71 waits until an operation of deciding theselection is inputted to the inputting section 77 from the user. If anoperation to decide the selection is inputted by the user, then theprocessing advances to step S192.

The CPU 71 discriminates at step S192 whether or not the selectioninputted to the inputting section 77 by the user is an instruction todelete an image, and if the selection is not an instruction for deletion(when the cancel button 522 is selected), then the processing returns tostep S169 so that the processes described hereinabove are repeated.

If the CPU 71 discriminates at step S192 that the selection inputted tothe inputting section 77 by the user is the OK button 523, then theprocessing advances to step S193, at which the CPU 71 accesses the videocamera image station 41 through the communication section 82 and issuesa request to delete the image data designated by the user from thealbum.

The CPU 151 of the video camera image station 41 receives the requestfrom the video camera 11 at step S204 and discriminates at step S205whether or not the request from the video camera 11 is downloading ofthe image data. If the CPU 151 discriminates that the request is notdownloading (that the request is deletion of the image), then theprocessing advances to step S209, at which the CPU 151 performs deletionof the image data of an object of the request from the album. Then, theCPU 151 performs a process of producing index images of the latest albumwherein the remaining image data after the deletion are re-arranged andincidental information and supplying the index images and the incidentalinformation to the video camera 11 thereby ending the series ofprocesses, and then waits until it is accessed from the video camera 11.If the CPU 151 receives an access from the video camera 11, then theprocessing returns to step S201 so that the processes described aboveare repeated.

If the communication section 82 of the video camera 11 receives theindex images and the incidental information of the new album from thevideo camera image station 41 at step S194, then the processing returnsto step S169, at which the CPU 71 controls the LCD unit 78 to displaythe received index images of the album. FIG. 43 shows an example of ascreen displayed after the index image 397 and the index image 398 areselected and then deleted on the screen of FIG. 33. In FIG. 43, theindex image 397 and the index image 398 displayed in FIG. 33 are erasedand the index image 399 is displayed at a position displaced to the leftside. The displayed portion other than this is similar to that in FIG.33.

Deletion of image data from an album is performed in such a manner asdescribed above.

Then, if the CPU 71 discriminates at step S187 that the displayed buttonselected by the user is not the deletion button 414, then the processingadvances to step S195, at which the CPU 71 discriminates whether or notthe selected displayed button is the all selection button 412 or the allclear button 413. If the selected displayed button is the all selectionbutton 412 or the all clear button 413, then the processing advances tostep S196, at which the CPU 71 places, if the selected button is the allselection button 412, a check into all of the check boxes of the indexscreens of the screen shown in FIGS. 32 and 33. If the selected buttonis the all clear button 413, then the CPU 71 erases the checks of all ofthe check boxes of the index screen of such a screen as shown in FIGS.32 and 33. Thereafter, the processing returns to step S170 so that theprocesses described above are repeated.

If the CPU 71 discriminates at step S195 that the selected displayedbutton is none of the all selection button 412 and the all clear button413, or in other words, if the selected displayed button is thetransition button 393 “To the album selection page”, then the processingadvances to step S163 so that the processes described above arerepeated.

The user can perform reading and editing of an album using the videocamera 11 in such a manner as described above.

It is to be noted that, during the series of processes described above,the user can interrupt the processing at any time by inputting apredetermined operation set in advance to the inputting section 77.

Further, the user can make use of a predetermined ID and password toaccess the video camera image station 41 from a personal computer foruniversal use connected to a network to read and edit image data.

While the series of processes described above can be executed byhardware, it may otherwise be executed by software. Where the series ofprocesses is executed by software, a program which constructs thesoftware is installed from a network or a recording medium into acomputer incorporated in hardware for exclusive use or, for example, apersonal computer for universal use which can execute various functionsby installing various programs.

The recording medium is formed as a package medium formed from, as shownin FIGS. 3 to 6, a magnetic disk 91 (including a flexible disk), 131,171 or 211, an optical disk 92 (including a CD-ROM (Compact Disc-ReadOnly Memory) and a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk)), 132, 172 or 212, or amagneto-optical disk 93 (including an MD (Mini-Disk)), 133, 173 or 213,or a semiconductor memory 94, 134, 174 or 214 which has the programrecorded thereon or therein and is distributed in order to provide theprogram separately from an apparatus body, or else is formed from a ROM72, 112, 152 or 192 or a hard disk included in a storage section 118,158 or 198 which is provided to a user in a state wherein it isincorporated in the apparatus body in advance.

It is to be noted that, in the present specification, the steps whichdescribe the program stored in a program storage medium may be but neednot necessarily be processed in a time series in the order as described,and include processes which are executed in parallel or individuallywithout being processed in a time series.

Further, in the present specification, the term system represents anentire apparatus which is composed of a plurality of apparatus.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, with the information processing system of thepresent invention, the first information processing apparatus displaysindices to images transmitted from the second information processingapparatus and accepts selection of one or more of the images desired tobe downloaded by a user. Further, the first information processingapparatus discriminates whether or not the image data are downloadablebased on discrimination information transmitted from the secondinformation processing apparatus, issues a request for transmission ofthe image data to the second information processing apparatus if it isdiscriminated that the image data are downloadable, and records theimage data transmitted from the second information processing apparatusonto a recording medium. The second information processing apparatusstores the image data transmitted from the first information processingapparatus for each user, accepts an access from the first informationprocessing apparatus, specifies the user of the first informationprocessing apparatus, transmits, in response to the transmission requestfor indices to the images from the first information processingapparatus, indices to the images to the first information processingapparatus, transmits the discrimination information to the firstinformation processing apparatus in response to the transmission requestfor discrimination information from the first information processingapparatus, and transmits the image data to the first informationprocessing apparatus in response to the transmission request for theimage data from the first information processing apparatus.Consequently, a system wherein one or more image data can be downloadedsimply by a simple operation can be implemented.

With the first information processing apparatus and method, recordingmedium and program of the present invention, a request for transmissionof indices to images managed by a different information processingapparatus is issued to the different information processing apparatusthrough the network, and the indices to the images transmitted from thedifferent information processing apparatus are displayed and selectionof one or more of the images desired to be downloaded by a user isaccepted. Further, a request for transmission of discriminationinformation of the image data corresponding to the image or images isissued to the different information processing means, and it isdiscriminated based on the discrimination information transmitted fromthe different information processing apparatus whether or not the imagedata are downloadable. Then, a request for transmission of the imagedata to the different information processing apparatus is issued if itis discriminated that the image data are downloadable, and the imagedata transmitted from the different information processing apparatus arerecorded onto a recording medium. Consequently, one or more image datacan be downloaded simply by a simple operation.

With the second information processing apparatus and method, recordingmedium and program of the present invention, in response to atransmission request for indices to images from the differentinformation processing apparatus, indices to the images are transmittedto the different information processing apparatus, and thendiscrimination information is transmitted to the different informationprocessing apparatus in response to a transmission request fordiscrimination information from the different information processingapparatus. Then, one or more of the image data are transmitted to thedifferent information processing apparatus in response to a transmissionrequest for the image data from the different information processingapparatus. Consequently, one or more image data can be downloaded simplyby a simple operation.

1. An information processing system which includes a first informationprocessing apparatus which transmits and receives image data, and asecond information processing apparatus which manages the image data,characterized in that said first information processing apparatusincludes: first requesting means for issuing a request for transmissionof indices to the images managed by said second information processingapparatus to said second information processing apparatus through anetwork; acceptance means for displaying the indices to the imagestransmitted from said second information processing apparatus andaccepting selection of one or more of the images desired to bedownloaded by a user; second requesting means for issuing a request fortransmission of discrimination information of the image datacorresponding to the image or images whose selection has been acceptedby said acceptance means to said second information processingapparatus; discrimination means for discriminating whether or not theimage data are downloadable based on the discrimination informationtransmitted from said second information processing apparatus; thirdrequesting means for issuing a request for transmission of the imagedata to said second information processing apparatus if it isdiscriminated by said discrimination means that the image data aredownloadable; and recording means for recording the image datatransmitted from said second information processing apparatus onto arecording medium; and said second information processing apparatusincludes: storage means for storing the image data transmitted from saidfirst information processing apparatus for each user; specificationmeans for accepting an access from said first information processingapparatus to specify the user of said first information processingapparatus; first transmission means for transmitting, in response to thetransmission request for indices to the images from said firstinformation processing apparatus, indices to the images to said firstinformation processing apparatus; second transmission means fortransmitting the discrimination information to said first informationprocessing apparatus in response to the transmission request fordiscrimination information from said first information processingapparatus; and third transmission means for transmitting the image datato said first information processing apparatus in response to thetransmission request for the image data from said first informationprocessing apparatus.
 2. An information processing system according toclaim 1, characterized in that the indices to the images includethumbnail images of the images.
 3. An information processing systemaccording to claim 1, characterized in that the discriminationinformation includes information regarding a file size of the image dataand a type of a format of the image data as well as a URL correspondingto the image data.
 4. An information processing system according toclaim 3, characterized in that said third requesting means accesses,when to issue a request for transmission of the image data, the URLincluded in the discrimination information and issues a request fortransmission of the image data. 5-17. (canceled)
 18. An informationprocessing apparatus, characterized in that it comprises: storage meansfor storing image data transmitted thereto from a different informationprocessing apparatus for each user; specification means for accepting anaccess from said different information processing apparatus to specifythe user of said different information processing apparatus; firsttransmission means for transmitting, in response to a transmissionrequest for indices to the images from said different informationprocessing apparatus, indices to the images to said differentinformation processing apparatus; second transmission means fortransmitting discrimination information to said different informationprocessing apparatus in response to a transmission request fordiscrimination information from said different information processingapparatus; and third transmission means for transmitting predeterminedimage data from within the image data stored in said storage means tosaid different information processing apparatus in response to atransmission request for the image data from said different informationprocessing apparatus.
 19. An information processing apparatus accordingto claim 18, characterized in that said storage means stores a pluralityof the image data in a classified state in a plurality of groups, andsaid information processing apparatus further comprises fourthtransmission means for transmitting a list of the groups to saiddifferent information processing apparatus based on a transmissionrequest for the list of the groups from said different informationprocessing apparatus.
 20. An information processing method,characterized in that it comprises: a storage step of storing image datatransmitted thereto from a different information processing apparatusfor each user; a specification step of accepting an access from saiddifferent information processing apparatus to specify the user of saiddifferent information processing apparatus; a first transmission step oftransmitting, in response to a transmission request for indices to theimages from said different information processing apparatus, indices tothe images to said different information processing apparatus; a secondtransmission step of transmitting discrimination information to saiddifferent information processing apparatus in response to a transmissionrequest for discrimination information from said different informationprocessing apparatus; and a third transmission step of transmittingpredetermined image data from within the image data stored by theprocess of the storage step to said different information processingapparatus in response to a transmission request for the image data fromsaid different information processing apparatus.
 21. A recording mediumon which a computer-readable program is recorded, characterized in thatthe program comprises: a storage step of storing image data transmittedthereto from a different information processing apparatus for each user;a specification step of accepting an access from said differentinformation processing apparatus to specify the user of said differentinformation processing apparatus; a first transmission step oftransmitting, in response to a transmission request for indices to theimages from said different information processing apparatus, indices tothe images to said different information processing apparatus; a secondtransmission step of transmitting discrimination information to saiddifferent information processing apparatus in response to a transmissionrequest for discrimination information from said different informationprocessing apparatus; and a third transmission step of transmittingpredetermined image data from within the image data stored by theprocess of the storage step to said different information processingapparatus in response to a transmission request for the image data fromsaid different information processing apparatus.
 22. A program forcausing a computer to execute: a storage step of storing image datatransmitted thereto from a different information processing apparatusfor each user; a specification step of accepting an access from saiddifferent information processing apparatus to specify the user of saiddifferent information processing apparatus; a first transmission step oftransmitting, in response to a transmission request for indices to theimages from said different information processing apparatus, indices tothe images to said different information processing apparatus; a secondtransmission step of transmitting discrimination information to saiddifferent information processing apparatus in response to a transmissionrequest for discrimination information from said different informationprocessing apparatus; and a third transmission step of transmittingpredetermined image data from within the image data stored by theprocess of the storage step to said different information processingapparatus in response to a transmission request for the image data fromsaid different information processing apparatus.